On Tuesday morning I spoke to a group of local business owners about what I have learned in my first year in business.
One of the things I talked about was how it has been important to me to stay true to my ethics and values in my business as much as I do in my personal life.
I talked through how this hasn’t always been easy, probably more so in my personal life but that this was something really important to me and so I have this on the wall in the office to remind myself daily.
Within my business I provide a service, yes there are products available to support people achieve what they want, but predominantly I am service based. I am the product that people must ‘buy in to’ so the ‘know. like and trust’ elements are incredibly important.
There are a lot of coaches out there, which is great as there is a huge demand for coaches with lots of people looking to improve themselves and their health and wellbeing.
We don’t have to compete over the same customers as people will go to the coach who they can relate to, the coach that they feel connected with, the coach who they like, know and trust.
This is why it is fundamentally important for me to stay true to my values, my ethics and my morals.
Firstly, so that I am authentic.
Secondly, so that people connect with the real me.
Thirdly, so that I can live and work in alignment with what is important to me.
Sometimes this means walking away from something or someone.
The crazy thing with values is that they aren’t something that is right or wrong. If we don’t share the same values, it doesn’t mean that one of us is right and a better person. Values are very individual and based on our experiences, our upbringing, and the people we surround ourselves with.
In a similar way our ethics, the moral code in which we live by, will slightly differ from one person to another as it is subjective in the way we view it.
Ethics, although based on well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, and benefits to society are still seen differently by different people as this is influenced by their values.
Values and Ethics are something that we are and absolutely should be passionate about. It is part of what makes us who we are, it sets out how we behave, how we are with others, how we live our lives.
Are you clear on what your values are?
What happens when something is not in alignment? How do you know?
That horrible ‘sinky’ feeling in your stomach, that bit of information or something somebody says that makes you wince. That feeling of being uncomfortable with what is happening, it just not sitting right.
Those are the signs.
Those are the signs you need to pay attention to.
That is your intuition, that is your gut feeling, that is how you know that what is happening is not in alignment with your values.
Knowing what to do about it, well that is the hard part.
Do you distance yourself from what is happening, or do you remove yourself from it completely?
If you aren’t sure that there is a clear course of action for you, then distance yourself first. See what happens.
How do you feel when you are distanced from the situation or person?
Putting in some distance gives you some time away to think it through, distance can also help add clarity as it is often hard to see things clearly when you are still in the middle of it.
Distance and taking a step back can help give you that space to really think through what it is you want.
Having a difficult conversation to manage the situation or person is not going to be comfortable.
Distancing yourself or removing yourself is not going to be comfortable either.
This is however a short-term discomfort to prevent that feeling of waking up feeling that something is ‘off’, feeling disconnected from who you want to be, feeling frustrated or stuck.
Life is for living but living with purpose.
Life is for living but living with passion.
Life is for living but living fulfilled.
Life is for living in alignment with your ethics, morals and values.
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If any of the above is a challenge for you or something you would like some support to work through then get in touch and we can have a chat to see how I can help